"The Rise of Skywalker" (With Spoilers)

This is going to be more of a free-form reaction post than a review. And there are all the spoilers ahead. You've been warned.

Dammit, I'm a Reylo shipper. I didn't think I was after "The Last Jedi," but I certainly am after "The Rise of Skywalker" went full tragic romance on us. Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver just killed me, especially in those last few scenes where they barely even have dialogue with each other. It's just looks and body language doing all the work. I thought all the Palpatine machinations were pretty silly, and the whole sequence with Rey being tempted to the Dark Side didn't hold a candle to the original Emperor scenes in "Return of the Jedi," but the Rey and Kylo/Ben stuff all worked. Oh, and I totally called Rey being a Palpatine (because that's how dramatic irony works).

Speaking of "Return of the Jedi," I got amazing chills when Rey found the original throne room. It wasn't the visuals that did it, but that snatch of the old score from when Vader removed his helmet. The xylophone, of all things, set it off. A similar thing happened when Luke's X-wing made its appearance complete with Yoda's theme. It really goes to show that after all this time, John Williams' music is still a huge part of the franchise's effectiveness. I've rolled my eyes when other sequels and remakes have used this trick - "Mary Poppins Returns" for instance - but the new "Star Wars" films feel enough of a piece with the older ones that it works.

Of course, there were other callbacks and references everywhere, but I didn't mind it so much this time out. Maybe it's because I honestly expected much worse, considering some of the more hyperbolic reviews and reactions. Maybe it's because I've just gotten used to this level of self-obsession. Maybe it's because they were generally handled better, and there were a few good surprises. I didn't expect to ever see Harrison Ford as Han Solo again, but was grateful for the appearance. There are rumors circulating that the scene was originally meant for Carrie Fisher - I'm still undecided as to whether she should have been written out of the film entirely to avoid the awkwardness of her haphazardly cut together scenes.

Leia's death was a letdown, but really, no one but Rey and Kylo got very satisfying endings. Poe fared decently, becoming leader of the rebellion and getting some lukewarm character development. His best moments were his flirting with Keri Russell's character, Zorii. I liked Finn better here after his disastrous arc in "Last Jedi," but I don't understand the logic of sidelining Rose Tico and giving him a new love interest, Naomi Ackie's Jannah. And again, he clearly had material trimmed because we never find out what he was almost going to tell Rey. That he's Force sensitive? That he loves her? What?! C-3PO was pretty effective as comic relief this time out, though the attempts to wring some pathos out of his memory wipe were pretty poor. And the Chewie death fake-out was awful. Jury's still out on both of Kylo Ren's resurrections.

When I went back and looked at how the narrative actually played out, I was amazed at how shoddily it was pieced together. The opening crawl references a mysterious voice that is never brought up again. Everything about the Macguffin blade makes no sense. Mention is made a ticking clock we never actually see at any point. Lando's last minute arrival with the cavalry is logistically bananas - and really, Lando had nothing to do in this movie except to provide a cool trailer reveal. There's also no reason for Richard E. Grant's new Imperial, Pryde, when Hux and Phasma are in the wings. Big ideas are just shoehorned into the story seemingly at random. Leia's Jedi training! Palpatine's secret kid! The Knights of Ren! No wonder so many viewers called foul. It's not that the ideas were bad either - just never given the time and space to properly cohere.

Individual moments, however, reveal so much care and talent and the best of intentions. The return to Endor and the remains of the second Death Star are magnificent. I love the look of Zorii and the new droid, D-O. I loved the lightspeed skipping sequence, the new planets, and the Rey/Kylo sequences where they seem to physically inhabit the same space. I will never understand why these massive, complicated movies operate according to schedules and deadlines that always seem to require that they be rushed out the door before they can get all the bugs and kinks properly worked out. "Cats" recently released a patch for some shoddy graphics after the first few days of release, for pete's sake.

As with too many blockbusters these days, there is a much, much better movie that you could make out of the parts of "Rise of the Skywalker." The one that exists is simultaneously a complete mess and a thoroughly entertaining spectacle, and has managed to tick off a lot of people. I can't help loving it for what it is, but I'm also deeply disappointed that it isn't what it could have been.

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